A U.S. jury began deliberations on Tuesday in the trial of a former Goldman Sachs banker accused of helping loot billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported. Prosecutors say Roger Ng, Goldman's former top investment banker for Malaysia, helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from 1MDB, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman. The Malaysian fund had been founded to pursue development projects in the Southeast Asian country. Ng has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to launder money and violating an anti-corruption law.

Thailand's leading joint business group on Tuesday trimmed its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.5%-4.0% from a previous forecast of 2.5%-4.5% due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on global growth and energy prices, Reuters reported. The inflation forecast was raised to 3.5%-5.5% this year from a previous projection of 2.0%-3.0%, the group, which includes representatives from industry, banking and commerce, said in a statement. It maintained its export growth outlook of 3.0%-5.0% this year.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa revoked emergency rule within days of imposing it as the escalating political crisis makes it tougher for Sri Lanka to agree a much-needed financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The proclamation that took effect April 1 is repealed as of midnight April 5, Rajapaksa said in an extraordinary gazette late Tuesday. Imposing Emergency had given Rajapaksa sweeping powers to detain protesters and seize property, but he also faced mounting calls from lawmakers to step down.

China Evergrande Group and some of its biggest offshore creditors have reached agreement on moving restructuring talks forward, helping stave off their threats of taking over the company’s offshore businesses after $2 billion in offshore cash was seized by banks, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Evergrande agreed in principle late last week to pay bondholders’ advisory fees, provide additional due diligence on the company’s financial health, and give creditors a formal role in the restructuring process.

In a startling revelation, the Enforcement Directorate has claimed that a prominent business family of Ludhiana and its companies have allegedly been involved in mega financial transactions in Switzerland along with acquiring assets worth several hundred crores in that country in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the Times of India reported.

A former Goldman Sachs banker should be convicted of helping loot billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund and causing "immeasurable" harm, a U.S. prosecutor told jurors in her closing argument on Monday, Reuters reported. Roger Ng, Goldman's former top investment banker for Malaysia, faces charges he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman. Assistant U.S.

Sri Lanka will appoint a former central bank official in charge of foreign-exchange management as the new chief, who will be steering the nation through a severe shortage of dollars that is stoking inflation, fomenting street protests and roiling the government, Bloomberg News reported. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe expects to take over as Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka April 7, he said by phone from Australia. The development was confirmed by the monetary authority’s spokeswoman.

Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. has completed its acquisition of majority stakes in two electric arc furnace steelmakers in Thailand, paying about $477 million in total, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. The company, Japan's biggest steelmaker, said in January that it will buy Thai steelmakers G Steel PCL and G J Steel PCL in a deal worth up to $763 million, seeking to cut its reliance on blast furnaces that use coking coal and emit carbon dioxide.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has proposed changes to regulations to ensure a time-bound grievance redressal and enforcement mechanism, including reducing timelines with respect to disciplinary proceedings. Various amendments have been mooted by the IBBI, a key institution in implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), with respect to norms for grievance redressal and enforcement mechanism for the service providers registered with it.

The Bank of Japan should pay close attention to currency levels because its efforts to hold down interest rates are weakening the yen, according to a senior member of the Japanese ruling coalition party Komeito, Bloomberg News reported. “From the point of view of the economy, I understand why they are holding down interest rates,” said Keiichi Ishii, secretary general of Komeito, the junior partner to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. “But the side effects of that are reflected in exchange rates,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Tokyo on Friday.